The scent of sizzling pupusas and hot tamales mingled with the smoky tang of pho-seasoned chicken wings. Music spilled into the courtyard of a 400-year-old monastery-turned-Secretariat of Culture headquarters in downtown Guadalajara, where a crowd gathered beneath colorful banners. On stage, a Chicano rapper who goes by Wombay welcomed the audience with a freestyle, his rhymes weaving between English and Spanish. Around him, stalls brimmed with Cuban, Salvadoran, Peruvian, Indian, Vietnamese, Palestinian, and Mexican dishes.
This was the 3rd Feria Gastronómica y Cultural, held on September 21 to mark the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Organized by The Rhizome Center for Migrants, the festival brought together more than 30 chefs, artisans, musicians, and community leaders, each one carrying a story of migration, resilience, and belonging.
Tran Dang, founder of the Rhizome Center and the festival itself, took the stage to open the afternoon. “Through food, stories, and music, we honor the dignity and resilience of all people who have migrated,” she told the crowd. “We celebrate the bonds, friendships, and communities that are created when people cross borders.”
Her words set the tone for the day. Migrants had come to Guadalajara from Haiti, Vietnam, Egypt, Venezuela, Cuba, Syria, Taiwan, and beyond. Some had arrived for work or study. Some stayed for love — “me included,” Dang quipped. Others fled violence, war, and political instability, or came after deportation forced their families back to Mexico.
“In times when migration in the Americas is marked by mass violation of rights, displacement, and uncertainty, our festival offers another side of migration: one of community, solidarity, and warmth,” Dang said.
The Rhizome Center, which she founded in 2018 in response to a surge in deportations under the Trump administration, has become a lifeline for deported and returning migrants. Its legal clinic helps people obtain documentation, fight immigration cases, and access schools, health care, and government services. “Deportation is not a moment in time,” Dang reminded the audience. “As long as someone is deported, they will continue to experience deportation.”
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